Food Waste Disposer & Dehydra

Food Waste Disposer & Dehydra

Apollo Kitchen Equipment has tied-up with ECOFAST Italia a company which invented Dehydra. The Dehydra is a defining & innovative technology in managing food waste. With aid of this system, food waste can be separated at the first stage which is then becomes easier to not only recycle other kitchen waste but the waste processed though Dehydra can be utilized to generate further utility like generation of Bio-Gas, Electricity and finally organic compost.

Food Waste Disposers (FWD) improve the quality of your life and make kitchens clean, hygienic and environmentally responsible by reducing, in terms of mass and odours, the quantity of food waste produced and disposed of to the garbage bin.

Temporary Storage Tank w/mixer & level sensors

Waste Station SC1B

Free Standing FWD

Modular/Rewiser Dehydra Unit

Vertical Waste Station SC1

S1200 MAXI Free Standing Unit

Snop Pro

FAQ’S

It can rather be described as an electrical grinder in which moisty wastes are ground on the rough external wall of the grinding chamber by a grinding ring. This works with the help of a turntable disk, on which two swivel impellers are fastened. The disk is provided with 5 mm. large holes, by those the suspension of water and ground food waste finally is led into the drain and sewerage system.
To increase the performance of the grinding system, especially on “tougher” food waste (long fibre vegetables), following a series of specific tests.

With the aid of a food waste disposer all organic kitchen waste, such as vegetable and fruit peelings, coffee grounds, tea filters, scraps of cooked dishes (vegetables, meat, fish), small bones (chicken), etc. can be ground. Non food-waste like: metal, glass, porcelain, leather, cotton, rubber, plastics and in addition hard organic material such as wood, fruit stones and large bones cannot be ground, since the mechanism of the device is not intended for such materials.
The attempt to grind such materials will cause a resistance, which causes a switch off of the engine (overload protector). Additionally an intense noise is connected with the attempt of grinding hard materials which has an educational effect on the user.

The disposer has been designed and manufactured in such a manner as to do away with preventive maintenance. When cleaning feed ice cubes and a cut lemon into the disposer. This removes residues and odours and, in case of prolonged absence, leaves it perfumed, clean and disinfected.

If something that shouldn’t be ground falls into the disposer (for example a teaspoon), the disposer must be switched off immediately in order to recover the object manually. Although there are no blades that can cut or scratch you, a tool such as long-handled pliers may be used to perform such an operation. The accidental fall of objects into the disposer is nevertheless a rare event, especially considering the fact that our disposers are equipped with a special “inlet valve”. This part, which is made of rubber, besides carrying out the function of Silent Block and non-return device, effectively prevents the accidental dropping of elements that are not to be ground thanks to its particular shape.

All our disposers have been designed and manufactured to be installed on a large majority of existing sinks. Our disposer is easily installed under the sink in less than half an hour (the outlet of the disposer is attached to the siphon of the sink) and does not required too much space!

Most of the people are astonished to discover that the disposers are relatively silent (much more than other small household appliances).

The monthly average consumption of electricity for a 1/2 HP disposer is equivalent to the electrical energy consumed by a 100 Watt light bulb in five hours, whereas water consumption amounts to approximately 5 litres per day. However, if properly used, such consumptions is of meaningless impact!

The Dehydra unit (de-watering unit, dehydrator, centrifugal press), is the key part of all the dewatering systems either in a compact version, a waste disposal cabinet including a disposer and a dewatering unit, or in a modular system, one or more free-standing disposal units connected each other to a dedicated drainage line to an homogenization storage tank and then to one or more de-watering units.

The de-watering unit is made up by (see picture):

A – a cylinder containing rotating parts (a micro cylindrical sieve fitted with very fine meshes and an auger)

B – an engine that ensures the movements to the micro cylindrical sieve and auger

C – a gear box that transfers and reduces the movement to the micro cylindrical sieve and auger

D – a inlet flange for the wastewater (a mix of ground food waste and water)

E – a discharge chute of the dehydrated waste

F – a draining outlet for the process water

Working Principle
The food waste, once ground, is sent by means of an impeller pump to the de-watering unit. The de-watering unit separates the water from the ground waste: while the watery part is drained to the sewerage system, the solid part (the dehydrated food waste), drastically reduced in weight (about 50%), volume (about 80%) and fermentability, is easily stored into a bin and recycled for a possible re-use. In the first instance to the biogas production and then to a composting plant, being the dehydrated food waste a selected matter without any contaminant. Operationally, the hydro-extractor keeps/retains the shredded particles present in the wastewater by means of a perforated micro cylindrical sieve in which turns an auger.
While the material is squeezed by the movement of the auger along and against the micro cylindrical sieve and it is “dried” by the centrifugal force, it is then pushed towards a discharge chute (E) and it drops inside an elastic sleeve into a collected bin. The process water, filtered by the fine meshes of the micro cylindrical sieve, is flushed down the drain into the sewerage system. Normally, the watery part does not exceed the limit values concerning the inputs in the sewers and it may be profitably used in the depuration plants for the biological removal process of nitrogen and phosphorous. The de-watering equipments do not require sanitary cleanings as the waste area is normally located outside the kitchen, in proper areas, where no wastewater is recycled or re-sent in the kitchen area.

Because it performs a reduction: drastic in volume, lower in weight, of food waste, thus facilitating the increase of the source separated collecting system.
Thanks to its use the following advantages may be obtained:

Yes, and in particular in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) with a “low organic load” where normally expensive chemicals, such as acetic acid, methanol or other (which are important expenses in the management of a WWTP) are used to remove nutrients, in particular nitrogen and phosphorous. Infact, by using food waste disposers, the carbon discharged into the sewerage system is rapidly available for the BNR (Biological Nutriment Removal) process at the cost of next to nothing for the WWTP’s manager.
What is more, if the plant is provided with an anaerobic digester for the production of bio-gas, the saving on electric energy for self consumption can be very important.
In the present table reviews the data of a recent study conducted, in 2001, by the University of Hannover (ISAH) by the professors Rosenwinkel and Wendler, on the impact of the ground organic fraction in the depuration plant (read the complete study).

Domestic waste water loads*
g/(capita*d)

Additional loads
due to FWD application
g/(capita*d)

%

Flow

128 l/(capita*d)

4,5 l/(capita*d)

3,5

Screenings

0,016

0,17

5

Grit

0,04

0,042

5

COD tot.

120

18-36

15-30

BOD tot.

60

6-15

10-25

TKN

11

1,5

5-10

P tot.

1,8

0,13-0,25

7-14

SS

70

28-40

40-60

C/N

2/1- 5/1

25/1

+++

Primary sludge

45 – 54

20 – 40

50 – 70

Surplus sludge

10 – 35

5 – 20

10 – 40

Raw sludge

ca. 80

ca. 50

ca. 62

Digested sludge

48 – 60

15 – 18

30 – 50

Biogas

16 – 25 L/(E*d)

16 – 25 L/(E*/d)

90 – 100

*for Germany (after the German waste water associations working paper A 131 (ATV,2000))

As concerns the environment, the reduction of emissions (see our environmental impact assessment) and leakage may be seen as more evident advantages: general improvement of hygiene and public health. For your information, the city of New York, after an experiment which lasted two years, conducted in certain zones of the city: (Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan) not provided with a separate sewerage system, has removed the ban on the use of disposers, which had been existing since 1994, and, by starting from 2000, it has encouraged their utilization with a contribution of 300 US dollars for each disposer installed.

RE-WISE is a project in European partnership financed by EACI (European Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation) within the context of IEE (Intelligent Energy Europe) coming from a technology property of Ecofast Italia S.r.l. (sistema SI.QU.R.O.).The Re-WISE purpose is the promotion of a integrated system for the decentralised production of electricity and heat from biogas from food waste, made with the massive use of domestic food waste disposers of second generation, able to quantify the waste introduced into the sewerage system. By using this infrastructure as a means of transport for the ground food waste, it is possible to increase, in a substantial way, the production of biogas in the depuration plants equipped with anaerobic digestors.

There are a range of technologies that can be used on-site to manage food waste. Such technologies may offer operational efficiencies, improve workplace conditions by increasing safety or reducing odours and flies, and reduce greenhouse emissions by diverting food wastes from landfill – but only if you choose the right technology for your situation.
In order to suggest the best technology, please provide the following basic information about the food waste your business produces to info@apolloequipments.com:

How much food waste do you produce each week?

What type of food waste do you produce?

What quality outcome or specifications do you need to achieve from on-site management?